Ballet photographer in London

[BallerinaMum13]

Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone can recommend a London based photographer for an audition shoot. Thank you!

[MissEmily]

Karolina Webb, aka Ballet School Photographer.

[Anna C]

Photography by ASH (ENB’s Amber Hunt) are brilliant:  https://www.photographybyash.co.uk/index

[Lifeafterballet]

Not in London but worth the trip to Birmingham is Kate Frost 😊 Fabulous classical and creative photos at a very reasonable price. 

[FlexyNexy]

Amber Hunt did ours and would highly recommend.

[alison]

Hello, BallerinaMum13.  I've added a "photographer" tag to your post, so if you click on it that may bring up some additional threads that are useful.

[Medora]

It would be so interesting to hear everyone's thoughts on audition photos. We are applying to some summer intensives and really don't want to pay £££ for professional photos so will do them in the studio with dd's teacher. This is what we have always done for all auditions, sometimes she has been successful and sometimes not. If she ends up applying to vocational upper school we would probably get the photos done professionally but I don't think we will do it before that stage.

 

Am I missing something? If there is a live audition, I always assumed photos wouldn't really matter, as long as the dancer gets it right, and the quality is ok.  Thoughts on this?

 

Another situation would be those summer intensives where they only go by photos. We have only applied to intensives which have had photos + live/video audition so we have never given it much thought. What would you advise? 

Edited January 17, 2022 by Medora
Edited for clarity

[NotadanceMa]

4 hours ago, Medora said:

It would be so interesting to hear everyone's thoughts on audition photos. We are applying to some summer intensives and really don't want to pay £££ for professional photos so will do them in the studio with dd's teacher. This is what we have always done for all auditions, sometimes she has been successful and sometimes not. If she ends up applying to vocational upper school we would probably get the photos done professionally but I don't think we will do it before that stage.

 

Am I missing something? If there is a live audition, I always assumed photos wouldn't really matter, as long as the dancer gets it right, and the quality is ok.  Thoughts on this?

 

Another situation would be those summer intensives where they only go by photos. We have only applied to intensives which have had photos + live/video audition so we have never given it much thought. What would you advise? 

If it helps at all. We’ve only ever done photos with the help of a dance teacher and my child has always had a Yes to both RB intensives over the last 3 years. RB is photo only unless they’ve changed this year, child not applying for SI‘s this year.
Photos matter in as much as the schools know what they are looking for and what they want. 

My child’s peers in their associate classes didn’t ever have professional photos taken either again just help from the teacher.

A professional photo is absolutely no guarantee of a place.

Good lighting

 Neutral background 

Taking the photos from a lower position rather than same height making legs look a bit longer etc but not rocket science 

Teacher that can help your child with the poses who knows what is being looked for 

Edit for brightness, colour, cropping etc

Don’t overthink it.

 

So you are right, correct position within the physical facility of the child is important and that it is a good clear photo and everything can be seen.

The professional photo thing seems to have become a ‘thing’ in the last year in a way that it wasn’t before. 
 

what you are doing sounds perfect and free!!

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by NotadanceMa

[Lifeafterballet]

8 hours ago, Medora said:

It would be so interesting to hear everyone's thoughts on audition photos. We are applying to some summer intensives and really don't want to pay £££ for professional photos so will do them in the studio with dd's teacher. This is what we have always done for all auditions, sometimes she has been successful and sometimes not. If she ends up applying to vocational upper school we would probably get the photos done professionally but I don't think we will do it before that stage.

 

Am I missing something? If there is a live audition, I always assumed photos wouldn't really matter, as long as the dancer gets it right, and the quality is ok.  Thoughts on this?

 

Another situation would be those summer intensives where they only go by photos. We have only applied to intensives which have had photos + live/video audition so we have never given it much thought. What would you advise? 

Dd/Ds didn’t have professional photos taken until they were entering grad year and applying for jobs. Up til then it was Mum or Brother/Sister with a camera in the conservatory or studio. I personally don’t feel that professional photos are necessary until it is for companies. Even then they did their filming with an iPhone on a tripod balanced on a chair themselves and not professionally. 

[WhereToNow]

Whilst I agree that professional photos may not be a necessity.  It was something we decided to invest in this year (Yr10 auditions). We used a lady, called Jade Tinkler based in Tunbridge Wells - I was really pleased with the whole experience and the results.  I think as a mum you just want the make sure you give your DD/DS a fighting chance - right leotard/clean tights and now some stand out photos (hopefully!).  Over the years I have seen more and more acceptances of kids with professional photos on their applications - and less and less of those with standard teacher/studio photos. But that is the danger of going down the rabbit hole of Instagram hashtags…..

I think you can only do what you think is best for your child and your family situation x

[margarite]

I’ve  always done them (apart from for Year 7 auditions when we roped in DDs then dance teacher) and she’s been  successful for all spring/summer intensives applied for (apart from waitlist for rbs) but it does come with the potential for arguments - especially if like me you have never danced and don’t exactly know where feet/arms look their best! We’ve decided to go pro for Upper School auditions (to take at least one stress out of the process) and will be booking a shoot.

[FlexyNexy]

For summer schools and other small activities where photo was required, it was done in my living room after shifting sofa around with my mobile. For application to upper school and now graduation - we had them made by a professional (Amber Hunt).

[Aklf]

Always a fine balance regarding photos. 
If an application relies solely on still photos for a place to be offered then I totally understand that the quality of the image is important for the student to be granted the opportunity to dance. However, the panels that assess these photos are so highly trained at spotting the necessary facility required or appropriate to the course that so long as the images are decent quality (lighting/exposure/in focus etc)  then that is fine. Most crucial I think is that the student is accurately represented and shown in their best light technically.  I would say that the input of a ballet teacher to advise and ensure that the technique and position is accurate is more important than the standard of the actual photography. 
For company level applications I’m sure that a professional portfolio is expected but prior to that I assume that a trained eye can spot potential amongst both professional and amateur photos.

 
 

[Anna C]

We did dd’s photos ourselves with her ballet teacher, in the dance studio after a private lesson, and these were always good enough for summer schools, even photo-only selection ones like Rambert.   However, for Upper Schools applications, dd had a shared photoshoot with her best ballet friend, done by Amber Hunt/Photography by ASH.  

As well as the application photos, Amber offered us “tutu photos” at the end, and they were stunning.  As she no longer trains/dances full time, the tutu photos on my wall are a really lovely keepsake of dd’s dancing days.  The application photos themselves were excellent and saved us a LOT of time and stress trying to get lighting, poses, angle and everything else right.  

 

Don’t forget that even for auditions, the photos are a screening process and also an aide-memoire for the panel, so for full-time training and company applications, it’s well worth investing in good ones.

[FlexyNexy]

I would just add that I would be very careful if a ballet teacher hires a photographer to take the audition photos for the class. I have recently seen a photographs of a child I know since it started ballet training and even with my untrained eye I saw the photos were a disaster. I was concerned as the teacher has authorised the photos as being perfect and the mum being very close friend of mine has shared them with me. Maybe the teacher had looked at the position of the child and was correctly standing, but the photographer hired for the students was standing at wrong angle and height. The kid in question has terribly disproportioned huge arms of a body builder, incredibly small head and large hips. I did not even recognised the kid.

And not every teacher has time for you to play around with positions and right angles. Even in our living room I had to squat, sit on a chair, remove the chair, stand on the stool…and after taking 100 photos, my daughter could tell even without teacher that the position is correct and incorrect. I only used the teacher to demonstrate position I was not sure about. I knew she would not have time to be with me in the studio for me to play with photos.

[Medora]

Thanks everyone. I always felt that as long as DD is doing the correct thing technically in her photos, she would have a fair chance, even if we didn't do it in a studio with professional lighting and a photographer. Phone cameras are so great nowadays, and its so easy to crop, brighten etc, so I just can't justify spending £££ for associate or intensive application photos. Like Aklf pointed out, the panel will be experts at spotting what they are looking for. 

 

[Mumof1]

Hi sorry to jump on this thread with a only slightly related question. We’re doing our audition photos for summer school at home with her dance teacher helping over zoom (hope they’ll be ok). Ive already picked up some tips here so thank you but would anyone be able to tell me if socks or tights would be a better idea. Application says either. My thoughts are that tights would make her legs look as long as they are but socks would cut them off but also show muscle definition. ?? 

[Ruby Foo]

Do you mind telling us how old your Dd is? Or what year group?

[Mumof1]

3 minutes ago, valentina said:

Do you mind telling us how old your Dd is? Or what year group?

Hi Valentina, 

shes year 5 auditioning for RB summer intensive . (If you were replying to me message 🤣)

[AllAboutTheJourney]

1 hour ago, Lily Craggs said:

Hi sorry to jump on this thread with a only slightly related question. We’re doing our audition photos for summer school at home with her dance teacher helping over zoom (hope they’ll be ok). Ive already picked up some tips here so thank you but would anyone be able to tell me if socks or tights would be a better idea. Application says either. My thoughts are that tights would make her legs look as long as they are but socks would cut them off but also show muscle definition. ?? 

We’ve just had exactly the same debate! My DD (10) chose to go with tights for RBS pics as Y6 RBS JAs are now wearing tights to class and being encouraged to wear them for auditions this year. She just felt it seemed right to wear them for the pics too (it was me that mentioned muscle definition  but to be honest you still see it in the tights I think). 

Personal preference really I guess! 

 

[Ruby Foo]

Personally, I would go for socks. I think it’s age appropriate and, as you say, it shows off muscle definition.

 

With regards to the photo’s, it’s technique, correct placement, line etc every time over posh photography. So always check with reliable teacher before submitting.

However there’s a reason for art galleries showing their pictures the way they do. The subject needs to have a setting that shows them in their best light. So if you have the choice and the money to hire a patient and amazing photographer then that’s great. More appropriate for upper and company than lower school.

We had our cat poised beautifully on the sofa in most of ours!

Good photos take patience and many, many tries to get them right so bear that in mind too!

 

[junedancer]

I agree with @valentinaon socks regardless of Year 6 JAs wearing tights.  I am sure most Year 7 and even some Year 8 at vocational schools still wear socks.  DDs legs were always bruised from some sport or other but we still did them in socks unless they asked for tights.

 

As for a professional photographer sorry this is all getting silly.  Yes you get some lovely photographs but some guidance from a teacher, a phone camera and taking the picture looking slightly up (essentially you sit on the ground so you are stable and the end result makes your DC looks long and lean) should give good enough pictures for intensives and lower schools and even US.  DD now uses her dance friends with a discerning eye and gets great results.  They also video each other and again have had successes getting into summer intensives and to semis and finals for US.  For graduate year then a professional portfolio is an investment.

[AllAboutTheJourney]

If she’s Y5 then maybe socks would be better but I think it comes down to whatever she feels more comfortable in - my DD doesn’t wear socks anymore for any of her classes (since the RBS change) so she was loathe to go back to them for pics. 
 

I think they will see what they want to see regardless to be honest. 

[Mumof1]

2 minutes ago, Waverley said:

If she’s Y5 then maybe socks would be better but I think it comes down to whatever she feels more comfortable in - my DD doesn’t wear socks anymore for any of her classes (since the RBS change) so she was loathe to go back to them for pics. 
 

I think they will see what they want to see regardless to be honest. 

Thank you to everyone.
I was already for tights but now having a rethink as the consensus seems to be socks.  the tips about sitting lower to take the pictures is so helpful, I never would have thought about that. 

[Anna C]

8 hours ago, junedancer said:

As for a professional photographer sorry this is all getting silly. 

 

That seems a little bit harsh.  I agree that professional photos are not necessary for summer schools/associates, but if people don’t have the knowledge/help/space to take good photos for full time training, and/or are asking for recommendations for photographers, then it’s not our place to judge. 

[junedancer]

36 minutes ago, Anna C said:

 

That seems a little bit harsh.  I agree that professional photos are not necessary for summer schools/associates, but if people don’t have the knowledge/help/space to take good photos for full time training, and/or are asking for recommendations for photographers, then it’s not our place to judge. 

 

Reading this line back on its own perhaps I agree but, and maybe I didn’t elaborate what was in my own head enough, I wasn’t ruling out the support of teachers and the use of a photographer.  I do worry that the cost of getting photographs is possibly putting families off applying as I know it would have for us when we started out.  You only need to look at social media and the number of photoshoots some dancers have.  Audition shots are often highly posed with the body placed in the correct way but not in the way the dancer would otherwise be in naturally themselves as a dancer.  Yes it will show them at their best and possibly get a place over someone else.  Panels hopefully look past the “professional” part of the shot and at the dancer.  From what I have seen this year schools are saying professional shots are not needed and I hope this is not just to tick an inclusivity box.

 

Apologies if what I wrote earlier and what I have said above offends anyone as that is definitely not my intention.

[junedancer]

3 hours ago, Waverley said:

If she’s Y5 then maybe socks would be better but I think it comes down to whatever she feels more comfortable in - my DD doesn’t wear socks anymore for any of her classes (since the RBS change) so she was loathe to go back to them for pics. 
 

I think they will see what they want to see regardless to be honest. 

 

My DC was in tights by Year 5 - her legs were too cold for socks.  She then went between tights and socks for the next few years depending on what was allowed in her classes hating socks by the end.  Maybe its my fear of authority figures and feeling I need to comply but we did photos in socks when it asked for socks and tights when it asked for tights.  Thankfully I am also into a good spreadsheet but getting all the right photos for each school and summer school was a marathon.

[BalletBoysDad]

2 hours ago, junedancer said:

 

Reading this line back on its own perhaps I agree but, and maybe I didn’t elaborate what was in my own head enough, I wasn’t ruling out the support of teachers and the use of a photographer.  I do worry that the cost of getting photographs is possibly putting families off applying as I know it would have for us when we started out.  You only need to look at social media and the number of photoshoots some dancers have.  Audition shots are often highly posed with the body placed in the correct way but not in the way the dancer would otherwise be in naturally themselves as a dancer.  Yes it will show them at their best and possibly get a place over someone else.  Panels hopefully look past the “professional” part of the shot and at the dancer.  From what I have seen this year schools are saying professional shots are not needed and I hope this is not just to tick an inclusivity box.

 

Apologies if what I wrote earlier and what I have said above offends anyone as that is definitely not my intention.

I have always taken the photo's with my DS for Y4, Y5, Y6 associate and intensive applications, and now current vocational applications on my own phone, with the help of a dance teacher.  I did curiously ask the price of 'professional photos' and was shocked to find it costing several hundred pounds.  If you consider that a private lesson may cost at least £35-50 depending where you live, that's 1/10th or 1/8th of the cost of a professional shoot. So I've always done the photos in a private lesson.  Not only is my DS gently taking the time to achieve the required positions, he's also learning what his body is doing (weight placement, turnout, expression etc).  He’s very involved in the process, making it enjoyable, and he can now look at a photo a see for himself what he likes and doesn’t like.

 

When I first took photos from Y4 associate applications, I was entirely reliant of the teachers guidance.  For Y5, I was taking the photos during lockdown, so as much as the teacher was guiding us, I was also asking exactly 'WHAT' each photo needed to show.  I immediately came the personal assumption that what is in the photo is infinitely more important that the aesthetic quality of the photo itself.  I used those photos to apply for WL Summer Intensive and casually apologised for them being taken in the kitchen, on a dull rainy day, and with lockdown rules that was the absolute best we could do, that close to the deadline.  I was pleasantly surprised to receive a very friendly and sincere email from RBS to say that when they say they don't need professional photos, they genuinely mean that, validating that what is in the photo is more important. 

 

Likewise, for vocational applications, they are taken in the studio with his dance teacher.  I have friends who have had 'professional shots' taken and are delighted with the results.  I also have friends who were disappointed, as the photographer wasn't fully aware of the child's facility, and the final photos didn't show that child off to their best.  

 

There will be both good and bad experiences any way a photo is taken, and my personal thought is that it's far more important that the photo (and whoever helps instruct the child) shows them to the best of their ability and facility.   The actual 'professionalism' of the photo is far less important than the content in my experience so far.

 

 

Edited January 19, 2022 by BalletBoysDad
Content

[Ballet Power]

Moore and Moore photographer are very good I think they are down south. We used kate frost in Birmingham. 

I totally think it’s up to you if you go to a photographer or do them yourselves. This year we went for a photo shoot and my daughter has done better in applications for Royal spring intensive. It made it easier for us as I am my dd teacher so being the photographer as well was just too much. The shoot was a lovely experience. 
Do what’s best for you! 

[MissEmily]

I definitely believe that the people looking at these photos know what they're looking for anatomically regardless of the quality of the photo. For anyone seeking a happy medium, I invested in a white photographic background (around £15 from Ali Express!) and borrowed some photographic lights from the school where I work. I set that up in my studio and take audition photos that way. With the ability to crop and adjust lighting on your computer/ phone, they come out looking ALMOST professional!

[Medora]

I like the idea of a backdrop MissEmily! 

[margarite]

I've gaffer-taped up a white sheet to the wall as a backdrop – worked well once I'd cropped in. You couldn't tell it was a sheet in the photo. We lived in a very small, very old house at the time so finding somewhere to take a photo with nothing in the background was a challenge (I won't even mention the other challenges of the sloping floor and tiny ceilings 🤪).

Edited January 19, 2022 by margarite

[Pixiewoo]

Totally off topic,  but my DD frequently bewails the lack of 'plain walls and proper lighting' in our house 😆 totally useless for any photo ever apparently!